Keep "I-Flip" Alive

Our challenges will be solved by the next generation of legal professionals. We all become richer when we invest in them.

Most lawyers applied to law school with a sincere, passionate personal commitment to doing good. We worked hard to show we deserved our spot in the class. We focused on getting a job that enabled us to build our legal career while also paying back our loans and pursuing personal goals. Traction at work quickly led to long hours and growing responsibility. Then the years started flying by.

In the legal profession, we generally take care of our own careers first. And then, to the extent there’s time, energy, and resources left over, we help others. This is not a good formula for building and sustaining a vibrant profession. And frankly, it shows.  With a little bit of sacrifice and organization, however, we can do better. A good time to start is now.

IFLP is an IRS 501(c)(3) education nonprofit that combines sophisticated training in modern law practice with paid internship for law students. Following a successful multi-year pilot at Colorado Law, IFLP was formed to scale the key learnings for the benefit of other law schools and, crucially, to build out a network of employers who value legal training combined with foundational knowledge in data, process, technology, business operations, and teamwork. 

Here are the statistics we at IFLP are most proud of:

• The 2019 incoming class was 52% diverse and 64% female
• 54 IFLP employers, with several providing two or more internships
• Across the three bootcamps, 100+ professionals who volunteered their time to teach, coach, and provide feedback to students.

Our total funding during our first two years of operation - to stand up a website, create promotional materials, recruit employers and law schools, process hundreds of student applications, vet and place nearly 100 students, build a business infrastructure, obtain 501(c)(3) status, and run four total boot camps — was $365,000. 

IFLP was bootstrapped for the simple reason that without producing results, we’d never attract the much larger amount of funding we’d need to scale - which is where we are today. Thus, working prototypes and results were much more important than a master plan filled with ideas.

Unfortunately, in the midst of our first-ever capital campaign, the pandemic hit.  

Not surprisingly, existing and prospective patrons found themselves in tight spots, with philanthropy taking a back seat - justifiably so - to keeping their own lights on.  Similarly, many in our robust community of tireless volunteers had to make tough decisions about how they allocated their personal time in a climate of unprecedented uncertainty.

Now in July, 2020 - only 9 months removed from winning a prestigious Academic Innovation Award -  IFLP's future is uncertain.  

All of the successes of the past years were leading up to a summer-long effort to scale IFLP's training offerings  into a model that could be accessed across the entire legal profession, for very little cost.  Itself an unprecedented model of training massive amounts of students and professionals in core, common skills that can be used the next day, and that are very attractive to current and future employers.  

IFLP is in immediate need of funds to keep our lights on and continue our mission. Please consider donating today. All donations are tax deductible and all amounts are deeply appreciated. Thank you.